Report: Mountain West closes in on ESPN deal

The Mountain West might be closing in on a seven-year media rights deal with ESPN, ESPN.com's Brett McMurphy reported Thursday afternoon.

This, combined with the league's existing deal with CBS Sports Network, increases the value of the Mountain West's media rights package to a total of about $116 million -- approximately $18 million annually.

The new deal gives ESPN the right to televise up to 22 football games and 25 men's basketball games every year. That number includes six Boise State home football games. The conference can also has yet to negotiate media rights for its new conference championship game that will begin in 2013, and that would be an additional source of revenue.

This new contract runs through the 2019-20 academic year, and is comparable to the seven-year, $130-million contract the Big East recently signed with ESPN